Four score and seven years ago… Keith Richards celebrated his 50th birthday.

As you celebrate the 4th of July this weekend, don’t forget to pay tribute to our founding fathers.

And remember the words upon which our great nation was founded:

We the Party People, in order to form a more perfect Union, insure domestic tranquility*, and promote the local music scene, do ordain and establish this list of concerts…

*except when the missus gets mad because we go to too many shows

Tonight:

• Ween Wednesday at The Columbia (4311 Eastern Ave. – between Streetside and Terry’s Turf Club) will be spinning White Pepper
• Greensky Bluegrass at the Rose in Dayton
• Manchester Orchestra at the Burl in Lexington

On Thursday, the Northside Rock & Roll Carnival kicks off:

The full band schedule is here.

Other Thursday shows:

• Rachel Mousie and The Montvales play the free Roots Revival gig at Washington Park
• Mason’s “Red, Rhythm & Boom” (awful name!) has Better than Ezra and Tonic
• Coral Moons and Pitts & the Vipers play a freebie at the Levitt Pavilion in Dayton

Hearing the name “Better than Ezra” always reminds me of one of my favorite Norm MacDonald lines from SNL:

Friday… hey, baby, it’s the Fourth of July!

And remember:

Independence Day shows (most of which are free, because so is our country… for now):

• Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top headlines the Red, White & Blue Ash freebie
• the Danny Frazier Band plays the Newport Blast
• RiversEDGE has That Arena Rock Show with Dangerous Jim & the Slims
• the Levitt in Dayton features The Scotty Bratcher Band
• Stanley’s Pub has the Dead tribute band Graciously Departed ($10… that gives me the U.S. Blues)

If the ‘splosions aren’t still ringing in your head on Saturday, you can check out Sinkane at the Levitt, or Sonny Moorman playing the free concert series in Glendale.

Sunday Funday shows:

• Steve Earle: Solo & Acoustic at Ludlow Garage
• Robin Trower plays the Taft
• Chicago is at the Rose
• “Weird Al” Yankovic plays a sold-out show at the Fraze

(If you’ve yet to watch the Weird Al “biopic” you really should check it out.)

Shows on Tuesday:

• Todd Rundgren plays the Mike Brady
• The Lumineers and Hippo Campus are at Riverbend

Next Wednesday, Aldo Nova plays Ludlow Garage, and Ben Levin plays the free “Fountain Blues” series at Fountain Square

On Thursday, July 10, Maria Carelli and Megan Bee play the Washington Park freebie, and John “Papa” Gros plays the Levitt.

Friday, July 11 is jam-packed with jams:

• Iron & Wine and I’m with Her play the Taft
• Indigo De Souza plays the Woodward
• Dumpstaphunk, Headhunters, Ernie Johnson from Detroit, and Matt Waters play the old Annie’s
• The Staleys play Ludlow Garage
• Yam Yam and Empire Pool are at the Levitt
• Sylmar, Moontype, and Brianna Kelly play MOTR
• Whiskey Daredevils and Veronica Grim play Southgate’s Revival Room
• Moonshine Drive and The Foles play Sawyer Point
• The Menus play the Fraze
• Sam Bush is at The Burl in Lexington
• Paul McDonald plays RiversEDGE in Hamilton, with Bee Taylor* opening

*it’s not Aunt Bea from Mayberry… we checked!

The (90s) hits just keep on coming on Saturday, July 12, as Blues Traveler, the Gin Blossoms, AND Spin Doctors play the Rose.

Other shows that evening include:

• The Swell Season at the Taft
• A “Christmas in July” show featuring Jake Speed & the Freddies and The Turkeys duo at the Falcon Theater in Newport. Request tickets to this Downtowne Listening Room show here.
• Electric Citizen has an album release show at Northside Tavern
• Davina & the Vagabonds at the Levitt
• Wiz Khalifa headlines a Riverbend show, with Sean Paul, DaBaby, Chevy Woods and more.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony play the Hard Rock Casino’s lawn on Sunday, July 13, with the Ying Yang Twins.

On Tuesday, July 15:

• Father John Misty plays the Carol Brady, with Hamilton Leithauser (The Walkmen) and Lucinda Williams (the best!) also on the bill.
• The Budos Band and Benny Trokan play the Woodward
• Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth are at the old Annie’s

Gigs on Wednesday, July 16:

• Big Sandy & his Fly-Rite Boys are in Southgate’s Revival Room, with Kyle Eldridge opening
• Leftover Salmon and The Infamous Stringdusters play the Rose
• The High Kings play Memorial Hall
• Ke$ha, Scissor Sisters, and Slayyyter play Riverbend.

Chuck Prophet & His Cumbia Shoes play a freebie at the Levitt in Dayton on Thursday, July 17. I’ll make the drive for that one.

Shows closer to home on 7/17 include:

• The Harmed Brothers Duo and Jolly Old Hawk at Washington Park
• A Songwriters in the Round show at the Liberty Theater featuring Ethan Hopper and Caden McMullen
• The Bacon Brothers play Ludlow Garage.

On Friday, July 18, the two-day Big River Get Down kicks off at RiversEDGE in Hamilton.

That same evening, Carlene Carter plays a free show at the Levitt.

Sunday, July 20:

• Ryan Adams plays the Taft
• The Head & The Heart, Wild Rivers, and Marfa play an outdoor show at the Marsha Brady
• Yelawolf plays Bogart’s
• Live, Collective Soul, and Our Lady Peace play the Rose
• We’ll wrap up this list of concerts where we began: with a Greensky Bluegrass show (they play the old Annie’s this time around)

OK, one more: Beck plays a show with the CSO at PNC Pavilion on Monday, July 21.

We love it live!

It’s been a whirlwind tour of tours for your humble scribe. Nelsonville was a very cool festival — two of the stages have plenty o’ shade — and it was great to see list members Dan “Reds in 2025… or 2026” Lewis and Bruce Frasure there with their lovely brides, along with list members Matt & Pam (with their kids) and happy camper Jeff B. (with his son Finn, who is as cuckoo for concerts as I am!). Friday night’s run of MJ Lenderman, Bug Club, Waxahatchee, and Dehd (on alternating stages) will be tough to top. Other highlights included Being Dead, Ryan Davis, Styrofoam Winos, Low Cut Connie, Garrett T. Capps and Gardener.

Then it was Devo at the Cindy Brady with list members Ken “The Lobby Boy” Laube, Jarrod M., and four Cereal Killers! A perfect old man show: no opener, started at 8, played a great set, wrapped well before 10.

On Thursday, I saw the Rush Tribute Project at Memorial Hall with my buddy Craig and a bunch of other pickleball old-timers. I could do without two of the band members dressing like Geddy and Neil, but with 27 songs over two sets, they certainly delivered a reasonable facsimile of the ol’ Rush concert experience. Neil’s not coming back, so it’ll have to do.

This past Saturday, my lovely bride and I… and list member Heather E. — drove up to Over the Rhine’s Nowhere Else Farm to see Patty Griffin play in their restored barn (with a short opening set from Linford & Karin). What a great space to see such top-notch singer/songwriters!

What, no Puppet Show?

In advance of the Spinal Tap sequel that Rob Reiner credits Kate Bush for, several theaters are playing the OG This is Spinal Tap this Saturday/Sunday/Monday. Check listings here. Unlike Stonehenge, it’ll be huge.

We should give the R&R HoF an “It’s about damn time!” award

Warren Zevon will finally be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame through their “Musical Influence Award.” I agree with Sound Opinions’ Greg Kot that he should’ve been in as a performer and songwriter long ago, but if his daughter is okay with it, and his son is okay with it, then I am too.

He came through the industry in an indirect way, which is how he came into a lot of things — by taking his own strange route. And he earned his reputation and fan base through hard work. People who really put value on songwriting know the influence his songs have had on his peers. They appreciate his lyrics and poetry and the commentary on humanity, heart, and humor. – Ariel Zevon

“In the same way you’ll hear Philip Seymour Hoffman called an actor’s actor, to musicians (Zevon) is a musician’s musician. He was in his own separate box. It’s that Stravinsky influence and classical background he had…that made him think a little different than everyone else. I’ve had instances where I’ve had to cover his songs and you go, ‘Wait, he went to THAT chord? That’s the wrong chord,’ but it works.” — Jordan Zevon

Don’t let the TicketBastards and Ticket Shysters get you down

Huge tip o’ the 97XBam hat (it’s a Mojo Nixon trucker cap) to list member Frank B., who found a great way for me to sell my Waxahatchee/MJ Lenderman tickets for their show near Syracuse, NY. (I bought those tix before the Nelsonville lineup was announced – same weekend.) It’s called CashorTrade, and you can use it to buy or sell tickets without scalpers or brokers. I was able to sell my two tickets for face value, and the whole process was pretty easy.

I’m sure the TicketMafia will figure out a way to shut them down, but for now, check it out!

Rust Never Sleeps, especially in Akron

Before the Devo show, list member and Super Spud Jarrod M. shared this wild, woolly, and wacky ’78 collab between Neil Young and Devo:

If you listen, you will cry. Guaranteed.

Ben Kweller lost his 16-year-old son in a tragic accident and somehow managed to keep on making music. His interview on the Broken Record podcast is deeply moving.

This just in…

The brand-new episode of the Broken Record podcast is an interview with Jesse Malin.

Patriotic Album Cover(s) of the Week(s)

Andy Warhol, eat your heart out!

Yes, please pray for the billionaires who will need new storage space for the Big Beautiful Boats that they purchase with their new tax breaks.